Game over? Two Republicans quit House “Gang of Seven” on immigration reform

posted at 6:41 pm on September 20, 2013 by Allahpundit

It used to be a Gang of Eight but Raul Labrador quit back in June because Democrats wouldn’t budge on who should pay for health care for newly legalized illegals. You would think, given the sturm and drang over ObamaCare right now, that Reps. John Carter and Sam Johnson would have cited that reason too. But no.

“After years of hard work and countless meetings, we have reached a tipping point and can no longer continue working on a broad approach to immigration. We want to be clear. The problem is politics. Instead of doing what’s right for America, President Obama time and again has unilaterally disregarded the U.S. Constitution, the letter of the law and bypassed the Congress – the body most representative of the people – in order to advance his political agenda. We will not tolerate it. Laws passed by Congress are not merely suggestions, regardless of the current atmosphere in Washington. Laws are to be respected and followed by all – particularly by the Commander-in-Chief.

“Starting off with the President’s hallmark legislation – the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – ObamaCare. The Obama administration has changed, waived or delayed key provisions with a single stroke of a pen. Congress opposed new laws that would infringe on Americans’ Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, but the President resorted to executive fiat to curtail those rights. Congress rejected the President’s cap and trade bill, yet he issued rules to reduce Americans’ access to our own energy resources that would help make us energy independent. The administration’s practice of hand-picking what parts of laws they wish to enforce has irrevocably damaged our efforts of fixing our broken immigration system.

“If past actions are the best indicators of future behavior; we know that any measure depending on the president’s enforcement will not be faithfully executed. It would be gravely irresponsible to further empower this administration by granting them additional authority or discretion with a new immigration system. The bottom line is – the American people do not trust the President to enforce laws, and we don’t either.

Border hawks like Conn Carroll (and me) have made that point too. I don’t understand why it’s not a more common refrain among anti-amnesty Republicans. There isn’t much the GOP can do to stop Obama from taking dubiously constitutional unilateral actions like delaying ObamaCare’s employer mandate. They’re not going to risk a backlash by impeaching him and the courts probably would decline to hear a lawsuit on grounds that it’s a political question. But one thing they can do is make sure the public understands that it’s a big farking deal. Having the president decide that he’s not going to enforce a major provision of a law because it’s inconvenient for his party before the midterms is not business as usual. Deciding not to participate in the new border-security charade because O simply can’t be trusted to keep his promise to faithfully execute the laws is one way of communicating that. The rest of the GOP should follow suit, especially the ones who are afraid that failing to pass amnesty this year will leave the party exposed to Democratic demagoguery about Republicans hating Latinos. Here’s your answer when they try that: It’s not about immigration anymore, it’s about Obama being selective in deciding which laws he is and isn’t going to enforce. And interestingly, The One himself seems sufficiently worried about that perception taking hold among the public that he rejected the idea of an executive amnesty a few days ago on Telemundo precisely for that reason, that his discretion in enforcing laws isn’t limitless. There’s an opportunity here.

None of which is to suggest that this is Carter’s and Johnson’s only reason for quitting. Democrat and Gang of Seven member Luis Gutierrez told Greg Sargent that the Gang fell apart because Boehner and the GOP leadership just weren’t going to back a comprehensive bill of the sort the Gang favored, and that they may not support immigration reform of any kind at the moment. This made me laugh:

Immigration reformers had hoped for what they call a “bipartisan moment” on reform in October, after the government shutdown fight is resolved — one that could have involved rolling out the gang of seven plan. But Gutierrez cast doubt on the possibility, noting he doesn’t expect anything to happen with the gang’s bill “anytime in the near future.”

Really? Think this through. The government shutdown fight will be resolved when Boehner and Cantor eventually abandon the effort to defund ObamaCare and shift to trying to delay the law for a year in debt-ceiling negotiations. They may end up needing a few Democratic votes to help pass a clean CR that includes ObamaCare funding if House conservatives refuse to vote with the leadership on principle. Unless Ted Cruz and Mike Lee end up grudgingly endorsing Boehner’s strategy, grassroots conservatives will end up enraged that House leaders once again gave up on an effort to have a big fight about big government now with nothing more than a promise to have that fight later. Assuming that’s how it all goes down, with the base angry over the latest party “sellout,” how eager do you think House Republicans facing reelection next year will be to then turn around and have a “bipartisan moment” with Democrats by agreeing to amnesty? If the left really wants immigration reform to pass the House, their best shot is to hope that Boehner can achieve some sort of meaningful conservative victory over the next six months or so that’ll buy Republicans enough credit with the base to let them get away with a modest legalization measure in the spring, maybe like the “Kids Act” that Cantor was imagining. Exit question: What are the odds that Boehner will achieve a meaningful conservative victory of any kind?

The problem is politics. Instead of doing what’s right for America, President Obama time and again has unilaterally disregarded the U.S. Constitution, the letter of the law and bypassed the Congress – the body most representative of the people – in order to advance his political agenda.

That’s not “politics”, you blithering idiot. Those are high crimeS that REQUIRE impeachment, and even criminal prosecution afterwards. Listen to your own words, you friggin worm.

… as if I couldn’t hate these treasonous GOP turds enough for allying with Rubio and the Indonesian against the nation and against the very concept of the nation-state …

Its pretty much over guys but there’s no reason not to jack with dems at every turn just for fun, that’s about all we have for awhile. This is a nice turn from Allah’s typical send ’em home pissed off on a Friday immigration threads.

Border hawks like Conn Carroll (and me) have made that point too. I don’t understand why it’s not a more common refrain among anti-amnesty Republicans.

That makes three of us, AP. You can’t call a law “broken” that you refuse to enforce. You must enforce the law before you can determine its adequacy one way or another. Otherwise, at best we live under tyranny, at worst, anarchy.

Sam’s involvement in this group has been a secret for YEARS. We in his district just found out and I can assure you, there are few districts as conservative as this one. Since the discovery, he has been pounded on it at EVERY meeting- even the smallest ones- since. He SURELY was getting tired of it, especially when it was ALSO getting people asking him to his favce when was he planning to retire.

Do NOT underestimate the impact of the New Hampshire poll showing that Rubio has fallen off the map for 2016, even in such a moderate location.

Exit question: What are the odds that Boehner will achieve a meaningful conservative victory of any kind?

Zero. Key word: “Conservative”.

Now, Boehner might get some sort of RINO/Democrat-Lite “victory” and try to sell it as a “victory” – perhaps instead of “Border Surge!”, it will be a “Super-Duper Border Surge” – but what possible real conservative victory could there be when the GOP leadership has been clear they are making the party more progressive?

I’m glad Carter and Johnson caught on. Whatever provisions might be in any comprehensive immigration bill that are restrictive of immigration, I doubt we will see them enforced under President Obama. He suspended the Obamacare employer mandate for a year — and that’s something he actually supports. Imagine how he would treat enforcement of a provision that he didn’t support.

They’re not going to risk a backlash by impeaching him and the courts probably would decline to hear a lawsuit on grounds that it’s a political question.

The Executive branch deciding not to enforce the law is a political question? What do we have a 3rd branch of government for if it isn’t going to be used to decide a legal knot between the other 2 branches?

I don’t really think it was any of the things the Republicans cited in their explanation for quitting the Gang. A much simpler explanation is what’s happened to Rubio’s poll numbers, which have disintegrated. Remember when he seemed to be a lock for the presidency? After the Senate bill, his numbers cratered and he effectively disappeared.

Not to pick on Hot Air too much, but when is the last time they posted a story about him other than to discuss his falling poll numbers? I honestly can’t recall. He seems to have been completely eclipsed by Christie.

The reason to not make this about Obama’s refusal to faithfully execute the laws is that that gives away everything else. You’re basically saying you’ll give in, but you want it to be to a Republican President like Bush, who will also be saying that his non-amnesty opponents are just playing politics and don’t want to do the right thing for America.

And then, when the big Amnesty bill passes, either he won’t execute the enforcement provisions – which both parties have failed to do, and that’s how we got here, where “enforcement” is regarded as a political sop to conservatives, whereas it’s the law – or after the next Democrat comes in they’ll just stop enforcing, and that will be that.

Republicans will already have shown that they don’t object to mass illegal immigration being legalized, they just want their President to get credit for it, and then the charge that Republicans are “just playing politics” and should be ignored will work.

More fundamentally, most working class white people – and the GOP base is 90% white and contrary to Democrat Propaganda not all on Wall Street – don’t want this. If you gave the white public the vote on mass immigration tomorrow, they’d vote “NO MORE PLEASE”.

That’s why mass immigration into white countries around the world gets brought in by people like Tony Blair who lie and cheat and do it covertly and against the will of the people. There has never been honest, informed consent.

And there shouldn’t be, because it’s devastating to the vital interests of the white conservative base. People need to not be crowded out; they need a job, and less pressure on wages, and space to raise a family, and as long as they can’t have these things, the white base is going to shrink demographically: no more conservative voters.

Basically, amnesty is war on working class whites, on behalf of rich employers who want more cheap labor now and don’t care about the long term consequences, and on behalf of the left, which correctly understands that what they call “the browning of America” means a permanent leftist hegemony.

It’s not something that would be OK provided a Republican President did it. It’s something that represents a fundamental betrayal by the GOP of the white conservative base.

There is nothing that is possible to achieve that will satisfy certain elements. They simply don’t accept the concept of reality.

So we have business as usual: they whine, they complain, they call the elected leadership all sorts of names, they threaten to leave the party and tell us we will regret losing them, but they never do it, they just keep on kvetching.

I’m convinced more than ever that it’s time for the next revolution. We can’t sit on our fat assess and expect this all to go away at the next “election”.

We sit back and become hostile over these scumbags ( all of them… all 535 of them plus the 9 supremes and the “CIC” ) and do what..not a damn thing. Meanwhile this POS makes a mockery of what we are…and we don’t act cause we’d be called…Racists? WTF?

It appears that enough Republicans are opposed to immigration “reform” that the bill passed by the Senate can now be defeated on a straight vote in the House. Should this be the case, Boehner should immediately schedule a vote on the Senate-passed bill. A defeat would kill the bill and force the whole issue to be started all over in the Senate. Boehner would become a hero and I am positive that Rubio would quickly walk back his support of anything Schumer wants. Regardless, his national aspirations are finished.

Why would Boehner allow a vote on the Senate amnesty bill which some in the GOP say is Un Constitutional because it raises revenue? The bill has not even been sent over by Harry Reid because he fears it will be sent back. Much better to ignore the Senate bill as the Senate routinely ignores House bills and allow it to die.No matter what happens Rubio is finished as a GOP Presidential candidate and will likely face a primary challenge. That will instill fear in any RINOs who even think of supporting amnesty.It would be madness to allow a vote on the Senate bill after Boehner has repeatedly said the bill will never be voted on in the House.